How AI is Changing Hotel Search, Discovery & Direct Booking

AI-driven search, zero-click results and answer engines are reshaping how guests discover and choose hotels. Here’s what this shift means for hotel marketers, and how to stay visible as the landscape evolves.

Hotel marketing is facing a seismic shift. The classic playbook of driving website traffic through SEO is being replaced by something new — and potentially more powerful. AI-driven search, zero-click results, and the rise of “AI Engine Optimization” (AEO) are starting to change the rules for how hotels get found, chosen, and booked.

Triptease recently hosted a live panel on this very topic, featuring Charlie Osmond (Triptease Chief Tease), Ira Vouk (industry consultant, tech strategist, and author of Hospitality 2.0), and Sanjay Vakil (previously Google’s Strategic Partner Development Lead, Travel). Their conversation revealed both the scale of change and what hotel teams must do now to keep pace.

The AI shift in hotel discovery

“Traditional SEO just doesn’t cut it anymore,” says Charlie Osmond. “If you’re only optimizing for blue links on a search page, you’re missing where travelers are actually making decisions.”

Here’s what’s different:

• AI search assistants are fast becoming the first stop for travel discovery. Guests ask open-ended questions (“Where should I stay for a family trip to New York?”) and expect direct, nuanced answers — not a list of websites.
• Zero-click environments are the new normal. Search engines and AI agents answer questions right on the page, often without sending traffic anywhere.
• The classic funnel is fragmenting. It’s less about driving traffic, more about being “part of the answer” at the exact moment guests are searching.

That doesn’t mean searchers don’t still value a list or a selection of suggestions. And more traditional marketing channels remain in play further down the funnel as guests get deeper into the research phase-especially for highly emotional, big-ticket items like travel.

But the journey is changing, and hotels will need to adapt.

As Ira Vouk puts it, “We need to stop obsessing over traffic and start obsessing over visibility in these new answer engines. Otherwise, you’re invisible at the most important decision point.”

Why AEO (AI Engine Optimization) matters

What’s the practical implication for hotels?

AEO means preparing your brand, content, and data so that AI assistants and answer engines choose your hotel as a relevant answer.

Sanjay Vakil highlighted the trend: “With the rise of generative AI, we’re seeing a massive increase in long-tail queries — not just ‘hotels in Paris,’ but ‘pet-friendly boutique hotels in Paris with late check-out.’ Hotels need to make sure their information is structured and accessible, so AI can surface them for these specific needs.”

Key AEO factors:

• Data quality and structure: Schema, FAQs, and structured data are more important than ever.
• Technical hygiene: Robots.txt and crawlability directly impact AI visibility.
• Content clarity: Content must answer real guest questions, not just hit keywords.

Charlie added: “The goal is to get your property mentioned — and recommended — right there in the conversation.”

Insights from the experts Charlie Osmond: “Being part of the answer”

Charlie set the tone for the conversation: “SEO used to be about ranking #1. Now, it’s about being the trusted response …. We need to focus on the structure of our content, the freshness of our data, and being directly integrated into these new AI-driven environments.”

He emphasized the urgency for hotel marketers: “Ask yourself, is your hotel actually visible in answer engines? If not, your direct revenue will suffer, no matter how beautiful your website is.”

Ira Vouk: “Why traditional SEO is no longer enough”

Ira offered a blunt assessment: “Most hotel websites are still stuck in 2015: keyword stuffing, slow-loading, poorly structured. AI engines are looking for context, relevance, and trustworthy data sources. That means you need to invest in schema markup, FAQs, clear property details, and regularly updated content.”

She also highlighted the rising power of long-tail, question-based searches: “Travelers are asking more specific, nuanced questions. Your content needs to answer those, and your data needs to be accessible in a way that AI can use.”

Sanjay Vakil: “Technical optimization is critical”

Sanjay shared his perspective: “We see a strong correlation between well-structured data, up-to-date robots.txt files, and properties that surface in rich answers. Schema, sitemaps, and APIs make your hotel ‘findable’ by AI. And with zero-click environments, you need to assume that the answer might be delivered without a single click to your site.”

He offered a tactical tip: “Hotels should use visibility tools — not just web analytics, but platforms that track how often your property is recommended or mentioned in AI responses. That’s your new visibility metric.”

What hotels must do now

The shift is already happening. Here’s how to adapt:

• Prioritize data structure and schema markup.
  • Implement and maintain schema.org markup for all property details, amenities, and FAQs.
• Keep content fresh, relevant, and question-focused.
  • Regularly update FAQs and answer long-tail, guest-specific questions.
• Audit and optimize technical elements.
  • Ensure your robots.txt and sitemap are up-to-date and don’t block important pages.
  • Use API feeds where possible to keep availability and rates fresh.
• Monitor your “answer engine” visibility.
  • Use new tools and platforms that track mentions and recommendations in AI and voice search.
• Plan for a zero-click world.
  • Assume not every guest will visit your website; focus on getting your message into the AI’s answer.
• Don’t panic!
  • Though things are changing fast, the fundamentals you’re used to still matter. Web content drives most AI results, and guests still go there to book. Advertising continues to play a role as people research destinations more deeply – with Google and OpenAI both appearing to confirm it will appear in AI results. Channels like social still matter for organic visibility and awareness. It’s a question of adaptation, not transformation.

As Ira Vouk said, “Your goal is no longer just to get the click. It’s to get the mention, the recommendation, and ultimately, the booking — wherever the guest is.”

The big takeaway

AI-driven discovery isn’t a future threat. It’s today’s reality. The brands that adapt fastest will capture more bookings, while laggards will be left wondering why their organic traffic is vanishing.

As Charlie Osmond closed the session: “It’s not about chasing algorithms. It’s about being part of the conversation wherever — and however — your next guest starts looking.”

How Triptease helps

The Triptease Data Marketing Platform (DMP) is a full funnel marketing solution built specifically for hotels. It combines a unique industry-specific dataset with the power of AI-driven intelligent targeting to increase direct bookings and help hotels win against OTAs.

The DMP works across the whole booking journey, using millions of customer interactions across tens of thousands of websites to help hotels personalize guest experiences, build direct relationships, reduce cost of sale, and grow profits – even as AI changes the game.

Learn more about how Triptease helps hotels round to world to win more direct bookings.

About Triptease

Triptease are the pioneers of the Direct Booking Movement. For more than a decade, the company’s unique technology has helped thousands of hoteliers around the world to fight back against OTAs by driving more direct bookings and winning more valuable guests.

The Triptease Data Marketing Platform is a full-funnel marketing solution designed specifically for hotels, powered by their unique price, market and customer data. This data is applied across a range of industry-leading marketing products–including Metasearch, Paid Search, Display Retargeting, Website Personalization, and Email–to help hotels build direct guest relationships, reduce their cost of sale, and increase revenue.